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Walker due in court again

Joe Walker’s Feb. 10 Santa Barbara court hearing was continued to March 9, but it will only be a scheduling hearing, not a hearing where substantial evidence is presented before the court.

“The Walker case was continued until March 9 for a preliminary hearing setting,” said Senior Deputy District Attorney Paula Waldman. “There will not be a hearing on this date, simply a court appearance to schedule a later hearing.”

Walker, a Mammoth resident, was arrested on Jan. 4 in Mammoth on suspicion of illegal communication with a minor to facilitate sex and was later charged by the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s office with several counts of illegal communication with a minor to facilitate sex and a count of a “lewd act” with a minor.

The alleged victim lives in Santa Barbara.

Walker was arrested on the same day as another Mammoth man, Dr. Andrew Bourne, who was later charged with several counts of illegal communication to facilitate sex with the same minor. Bourne, Mammoth Hospital’s vascular surgeon and a member of the Mammoth Unified School District at the time, committed suicide later in January, prior to any substantial evidence against him being heard in court. All charges against him were dropped after his death.

The two men were known to be close friends and were charged together for the alleged crimes noted above by the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s office.

The Santa Barbara District Attorney, Joyce Dudley, said last week that she will “amend the complaint” against Walker “in the next few weeks.”